Geochemical Exploration for Critical Mineral Resources, 2nd Edition
A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Mineral Exploration Methods and Applications".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2026 | Viewed by 11
Special Issue Editors
Interests: geochemical exploration; gold and rare earth deposits
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: deep-penetrating geochemical exploration; global-scale geochemical mapping
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Critical mineral resources are vital for economic growth, improving the quality of life, national defense, and the overall functioning of modern society. Geochemistry is an important tool in prospecting these critical minerals, playing a pivotal role in the exploration of a number of critical mineral resources. However, as the degree of exploration continues to increase, geochemical exploration faces increasing challenges. Ore bodies are buried at increasing depths, presenting increasingly complex geological situations and landscapes, and a number of emerging critical minerals are gradually coming to the attention of the prospecting industry. We must further develop geochemical methods that are indicative of these critical mineral resources in particular circumstances.
Thanks to the enthusiastic support of the academic community, the first edition of this Special Issue successfully published 10 high-quality papers. Building on this strong foundation, the second edition aims to further explore emerging research and deepen our understanding of geochemical prospecting methods for critical mineral deposits.
This Special Issue of Minerals aims to present a set of articles on geochemical approaches applied to critical mineral exploration. Potential topics of interest including, but not are limited to, the following:
- Dispersion mechanisms of ore-forming and pathfinder elements in covered or weathered terrains;
- Near-surface geochemical exploration techniques and their application;
- New innovative exploration methods for vectoring toward concealed mineral deposits;
- Mineral exploration using indicator mineral geochemistry;
- Recent advances in hydro- and bio-isotope geochemistry applied to mineral exploration;
- Geochemical exploration for low-carbon energy mineral resources such as lithium, rare earth and uranium.
By compiling cutting-edge research and fostering academic discourse, this Special Issue seeks to drive forward the understanding and development of geochemical exploration for critical mineral deposits.
We look forward to receiving your contributions and advancing the field together through this Special Issue of Minerals.
Dr. Zhixuan Han
Dr. Bimin Zhang
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Minerals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- geochemical exploration
- exploration methods
- geochemical indicators
- critical metals/minerals
- transported cover
- concealed/buried ore deposits
- indicator mineral geochemistry
- deep-penetrating geochemistry
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Related Special Issue
- Geochemical Exploration for Critical Mineral Resources in Minerals (10 articles)
